President Joe Biden on Thursday paid tribute to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in a brief statement that emphasized the pair’s many disagreements. “Throughout our careers, we often disagreed. And often strongly,” Biden said in a statement nearly a full day after the elder statesman’s passing. “His fierce intellect and profound strategic focus was evident. Long after retiring from government, he continued to offer his views and ideas to the most important policy discussion across multiple generations.” Biden is the only president who had the opportunity to invite Kissinger back to the White House but chose not to. “Jill and I send our condolences to his wife Nancy, his children Elizabeth and David, his grandchildren, and all those who loved him,” Biden wrote.